Captain America

So. Captain America's dead. Yeah, I saw it on CNN a day or two ago and looked it up on-line. Evidently, the comic book writers decided this was a good idea. Now obviously, this being the comic book world, his death is merely a set-up for his inevitable return and all that, but it still strikes me as a odd move. I can't say I'm too attached these days or anything like that -- I haven't really read comics for a long time, but when I did, I always liked Cap -- in fact, of all those comics in the closet at my family's house, I doubt I've collected any individual comic more than Captain America (tho' as a character, Spider-Man is certainly up there).


I liked Cap because he did the right thing in the right way. But don't get me wrong, it was just the blatant propaganda behind it -- with the proper writers, he was able to be pretty compelling. And contrary to the thing people might assume about him, he really wasn't as one-note a character as is often argued. He had issues with the best of them -- he was concerned over being too much a symbol versus being an actual human being. He was a character who had sacrificed any possibility of a normal life for the chance to defend his country and its people and he was really never even given much of a choice. And, yeah, with the occasional girlfriend issue thrown-in (and, man, how hard would it be to date Captain America...geez), there was certainly humanity in both the character and the comics.

So, Cap's death -- real exciting and heroic, I'm sure, right? Welllll..... like I said, I haven't been following, but they've done this huge crossover "Civil War" thing where the government decides to force all costumed heroes to register themselves and expose their identities. There's a hero group who supports this (lead by Iron Man) and one that is against this (Cap's team). Now, maybe I'm a bit of idealist here, but shouldn't our sympathies automatically go along with the team that is questioning the government's decision here? Aren't comic books still (in some way, anyhow) enough a part of the counter-culture for us to root for the guys who are try to keep the integrity of the "secret identity" construct intact and question the government authority over our lives? I mean, that's always been the beauty of Captain America -- and probably those who disregarded him as a "Go USA" guys didn't get this -- but Cap (as I remember him, maybe things have changed) was always pretty unhappy about being told what to do. He was hardly a government pawn, in fact giving up the suit and name once back when I was a kid because he didn't want the government to have control over what he did. Maybe Cap was a pretty black-and-white character compared to "cool" guys like Wolverine, but he was a rebel at heart and he was a defender of American ideals and the people, not the government. And when I read about this Civil War thing, it sound like maybe they got it right -- Cap standing heroically against the overbearing government's "Patriot Act" agenda. So, yeah, Cap fighting the system is the way this thing ought to be played out.


But it seems (I'm basing this on the Wikipedia write up, so be warned. Though it's difficult to doubt much about Wikipedia when it comes to comic books) the writers had a tendency to be more sympathetic toward the Iron Man/pro-government registration side and the battle ends when Captain America -- concerned over the loss of innocent life -- surrenders, unmasks himself and surrenders to the government officials. He is then shot and killed by orders of the Red Skull.

What? Wow. Really? That's just not cool. Again, I haven't read any of this in context (and I don't really have much desire to do so) and the thought is that he's frozen in ice ready to be thawed out at some point (though they have already done that) or somehow brought to life, but it just seems so dismissive a way of getting rid of a character that embodies the ideals of a country (and not necessarily the country itself). And, really, if you're going to kill Cap -- even fake kill him -- shouldn't it be in some heroic fashion? Not shot all Jack Ruby-style walking under police custody.

Oh well, Cap. You'll be missed. And I'm sorry that your death was caused by a seemingly poorly written and executed marketing strategy to exploit your demise mainstream publicity and for comic sales. Or, at best, an allegory about the state of our country (though, it seems, at various points during Cap's existence, the country seemed to be facing some problems, too). For what it's worth, I won't buy anything. I'll just pose my small Captain America in various ways to celebrate you and what you mean to me.